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The Class of 2017 Speaker Series – Words from our Seniors

The senior speaker series continued on October 31 and featured seven members of the Class of 2017: Bryce Butler, Emmanuel Chukwu, Luca Curry, Griffin Kornaker, Matt Redhead, Tyreek Scott-Grayson, and Garrett Stephenson.

The series is a new addition to the chapel program where all seniors deliver a speech, presentation, or performance to the Suffield Academy community. Headmaster Charlie Cahn said he hopes the program will serve as a formative experience for the seniors, an opportunity to strengthen community, and a way to continue providing engaging chapel programming. These talks will be supplemented by traditional chapel events including the Community Text speaker (Mark Shriver this year), the Alumni Leadership Day program, the Student Council Elections, and the Kent-Davis Speaking Competition during Commencement week.

This week’s speakers share a love of basketball, and several highlighted this passion in their remarks. Tyreek Scott-Grayson shared a video featuring several of his teammates. Bryce Butler spoke about his arrival at Suffield as a postgraduate this year and his love of “March Madness,” the NCAA basketball tournament that takes place each spring. Emmanuel Chukwu noted that while he enjoys basketball he also has a love for art. Manny presented a slideshow featuring a few of his pieces. Luca Curry spoke about growing up in the Bahamas and showed scenes from his home. Griffin Kornaker talked about his family’s adopting a foster child, and how it has been one of the most formative experiences of his life. Matt Redhead recounted discovering that he had type one diabetes as a junior in high school and learning to live with it. “Instead of worrying about what you don’t have,” he said, “be thankful of what you do have.” Finally, Garrett Stephenson presented a humorous story on how he earned the nickname “dad.” The seven presentations made for an engaging, interesting chapel meeting.

The senior speaker series will resume on November 7, when Suffield will also recognize Veteran’s Day with remarks from Bill Moryto P’16, ’18. Mr. Moryto spent twenty-eight years in the Marine Corps.